PSE 6 for MAC & iPhoto

[CarolinaGuy]

Is anyone else having problems getting these two programs to work together. I can't open photos, currently in Events in iPhoto, using PSE 6. I can open an event and double click a photo and it will open in PSE 6. If I try to use the PSE6 "open" command to open a picture in an iPhoto event I get as far as the iPhoto library and can't get any farther.
What gives?
I know this is very general but I am hoping someone has an explanation for what is happening.
Thanks

[Goddess_of_Go]

I read the iPhoto Missing Manual book recently, and I got the impression that if you want to edit files from the iPhoto library in an external editor, such as Elements or Photoshop, that you really should not be opening them in the editor directly, but opening them from within iPhoto so iPhoto knows what you are doing and can update it's information about the file. It has something to do with not going "behind iPhoto's back". If you go behind its back it apparently gets confused. The book showed you how to view the files in the iPhoto library in the finder, but it warned against opening them that way. I imagine that opening the files directly from Elements might yield the same unpredictable results as opening them from the finder.

That doesn't explain why if you use the file menu you can click on "photos" under "media" in the finder bar and see your iPhoto events. I tried clicking on an event to see if it would open even though I had never tried it before. I got the beach ball and I actually had to force quite Elements.

I'm sure someone who knows more will tell me if this logic is flawed. I'm satisfied to open the files from iPhoto. It's certainly easier to find them there than in a dialog box.

Terri

[Wendy]

Hi ...

iPhoto and Elements do work together but only up to a point :)

I tend to locate an image in iPhoto then drag and drop it to a folder on my desktop ... then I do my editing, save it back to another folder on my desktop.

... and then either drag & drop it back into iPhoto or Import it :)

Wendy

[CarolinaGuy]

Thanks for your responses. Wendy I tried doing the drag and drop and in some cases it worked and then in others as soon as I pull the files outside the event window the drag stops moving with my mouse and a small color wheel starts turning and I can't drop the file into the desktop folder. I just tried again and the file being moved won't drop into the desktop folder but I didn't get the color wheel. The file just goes back to the event location when I drop it. It's very weird!!! I'm beginning to think I have a corrupt iPhoto program.
Any thoughts?:confused:

[nu2scene]

I am one version behind in iPhoto. But from what I understand, when you open pics that are in iPhoto from PSE, you are running a risk of corrupting files in iPhoto.

When I want to edit in PSE, I export my pics either to the desktop or into a folder that's on my desktop. Then I open PSE and import from inside PSE. You can export your pics by dragging them. Or you can click on the pic in iPhoto to highlight it, then go up top to File and then look for export. Then you can decide where you want to export it to.

When I'm done editing in PSE, I then save it back to another folder on my desktop. Then I go back to iPhoto and import from inside iPhoto. That way iPhoto and PSE are always separate.

[Wendy]

Hi Rob ...

Yes thats the way I do it too ... however opening images into PSE6 from iPhoto is OK its just the saving back directly into iPhoto that can cause problems :)

Wendy

[Wendy]

Hi CarolinaGuy ..

If drag and drop isn't working for you then just select the images in iPhoto and do File>Export :)

Now about the coloured wheel ... it just shows when the Mac is busy doing something ... if it goes on for too long then it indicates that something is wrong (folks often call it the spinning beachball of death)

One though on dragging and dropping ... you are not in Edit (in iPhoto) when you try to do it are you ??

Wendy :)

[Grant]

I now work with Aperture but this is how I did it in iPhoto!

1) From the top menu iPhoto>Preferences>General ... set to Photoshop Elements.

1a) At this point you can select "Double-click photo = Edit Photo" I never did.

1b) If you are using raw then also iPhoto>Preferences>Advanced and click on "Use RAW when using external editor"

2) In iPhoto it is best to work on a duplicate of your image so highlight the desired image then press "command + D" alternately go to the main menu and select Photos> Duplicate.

3) Select "Edit" or double click if you have that set.

4) Edit

5) Save the edited photo and the changes are updated in iPhoto.

6) If you want to save your photos under a different name or extension don't, I repeat DON"T, save them back to the folder you got them from. As they will be hard to import to iPhoto. Save them to the desk top, or another folder, then drag and drop, or import them into iPhoto.

It is a lot easier than the length of instructions ...

good luck

.

[CarolinaGuy]

Thanks so much for all the great info. I will follow your instructions Grant and Wendy. Too bad Adobe doesn't do something about this issue.
Jim

[Grant]

I know this is very general but I am hoping someone has an explanation for what is happening.
Thanks


CarolinaGuy

In my haste to give you the how to I didn't search down to the original problem. In fact it is not a problem but a feature of iPhoto. The file structure in iPhoto is similar to a vault with only one person having access to it, In this case the person is iPhoto and by doing this it Apple controls the integrity of the data base. There are ways to directly access these files but it is best to know what you are doing before you try it. People with a PC background often find this a bit confusing but rest assured it is working as it was designed to do.

In the case of Photoshop Elements it is a case of the dog wagging the tail with Apple being the dog and Adobe being the tail.

.

[CarolinaGuy]

Grant,
You hit the nail on the head. I did come from a PC background, just got my first MAC in Jan. I find iPhoto very difficult to work with from a flexibility standpoint. In fact, I am looking for another program to do my photo organizing. Have you used the Adobe Bridge program? When I first got my MAC I posed the question of which photo organizer to use and was told that most folks like iPhoto over Bridge. Now I'm wondering why. I haven't used Bridge yet but I have it and am going to take a long look at it. I just can't get used to the idiosyncrasies of iPhoto. Obviously Apple wants its users to buy Aperture rather than accommodate PSE. I'm sorry I'm just venting now.
Thanks again for all your efforts on my behalf.
Jim

[Grant]

Jim

I too came from PC and had a very bad start with Mac. It was a combination of being really hot with a PC, cold with a Mac and a few glitches in the Mac OS when they went to Intel. So I hear you cry in the wilderness.

First I am the wrong guy to ask about Bridge! While I have it on my computer first with CS then with Elements I have never had a need for it. That being said I don't use iPhoto but I do use Aperture.

Before I tell you about what is wrong with iPhoto let me make a case for it. It is a fast and solid data base for images but there are many programs like that out in the Mac word. What sets iPhoto apart from the rest of the herd is its ability to integrate with other programs! In fact it is more than integration it is part of programs like Mail, iDVD, iMovie, Garage Band, iWeb, iChat, Keynote, Numbers, Pages, and Aperture just to name a few. In any of these programs when you activate the Media Browser and select photo your whole iPhoto library is at you disposal. In a nut shell it is not a stand alone product that lives in its own vacuum.

The main problem with iPhoto is that for a professional or advanced amateur it is weak in editing and cataloguing. To fill the void enter Aperture. As far as integration, Aperture behaves exactly like iPhoto. The editing tools are so strong that if your only concern is photography you may never have to enter into Photoshop. That being said if you want to do more artistic manipulation with things like layers and localize manipulation then you will need Photoshop or Elements as well.

Now to the data base. There is almost a limitless number of search possibilities you can do with Aperture. But the thing, for me, that sets it apart is that key words and text can be stored in the EXIF and/or the IPTC headers. This make you images portable and if in the future you want to move you images to another program that has these feature you still retain all your tagging.

The two down sides of Aperture is the $200 initial cost and the complexity of the program. If you buy it you should consider buying one month of Lynda.com and taking the Aperture courses and you will be away to the races.

If you start out in iPhoto and in the future decide to move to Aperture all the keywords and ratings and version names will be migrated with them.

Addendum: One of the other advantages with both iPhoto and Aperture is that none of the edits are destructive. The are all contained in side files that are administers when you use the image. Changes in Photoshop and Elements are destructive hence you have to keep the originals separate.

Hope that helps!
.

[Wendy]

Hi Jim ...

iPhoto is fine once you get used to it :) ... it just takes a while to work out a new workflow.

What I do is:

Import my images from the Camera to iPhoto
Select the images I want to edit and export them to a folder on my desktop called "Images for Editing"
I then Edit in Elements (or Photoshop) and save them into another folder called "Back to iPhoto".
I also save them with a slightly different name.
Next I go into iPhoto and use the Add to Library to move the whole folder into iPhoto.

(It sounds a lot mor complicated that it is :) )

As far as Bridge goes well its not an organiser in the true sense of the word ... its more of a souped up filebrowser which you can use to browse around the Mac. Plus you can use it for any browsing not just PSE ... I love Bridge :)

Wendy